Crusoe Secures $1.375 Billion to Fuel AI Infrastructure Expansion for OpenAI Crusoe привлекла $1,375 млрд на развитие ИИ-инфраструктуры для OpenAI

Crusoe, a company that previously focused on Bitcoin mining, has secured $1.375 billion in a Series E funding round, led by Mubadala Capital and Valor Equity Partners.

The firm plans to utilize the funds to expand its vertically integrated data center infrastructure aimed at serving the AI sector.

In September, Crusoe launched the first phase of its flagship campus in Abilene, Texas, as part of a partnership with the Stargate project—a collaboration among OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle. Under an initiative announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in January, $500 billion is targeted for investment in AI infrastructure over four years, with an initial commitment of $100 billion.

The data center in Abilene boasts a projected capacity of 1.2 GW, and the site is slated to host up to 400,000 powerful AI chips from Nvidia.

Crusoe also operates data centers in Norway and Iceland, which support its Crusoe Cloud high-performance computing service. In July, the firm announced plans to build an AI campus in Wyoming in collaboration with Tallgrass, with a capacity of 1.8 GW.

Founded in 2018 by Chase Lochmiller and Kalli Kavniss, Crusoe started as a Bitcoin mining company, utilizing modular container installations powered by the flaring of natural gas during oil extraction.

In 2019, the startup raised $4.5 million in a seed round that included venture firms associated with the Winklevoss twins and Peter Thiel. By the end of that year, existing shareholders and new investors had boosted their contributions to the project by an additional $70 million.

In 2022, Crusoe completed a Series C funding round amounting to $350 million, which was directed towards expanding its mining operations and launching the Crusoe Cloud platform. At that time, the firm also acquired the modular cryptocurrency mining system manufacturer Easter-Owens Electric and purchased 11 similar installations from the bankrupt Compute North.

In October 2024, Crusoe formed a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital and Primary Digital Infrastructure, announcing a $3.4 billion project to build the Lancium Clean Campus data center focused on HPC in Abilene, intended for long-term lease to an unnamed Fortune 100 company, later revealed to be Oracle.

In March 2025, Crusoe sold its Bitcoin mining division to NYDIG, with the terms of the deal undisclosed. At that time, the company was managing over 425 modular installations with a total capacity exceeding 250 MW and employed approximately 135 staff members, operating across oil fields in seven U.S. states and Argentina.

The trend for Bitcoin miners to diversify into the AI sector gained significant momentum following the halving event in April 2024. As profitability in Bitcoin mining declined, cryptocurrency miners increasingly looked into high-margin business opportunities in this sector, which was also experiencing a capacity shortage.

One of the largest transactions in this area was CoreWeave’s $9 billion acquisition of mining center operator Core Scientific in July.

In August, Google increased its stake in TeraWulf to 14% through the expansion of financial guarantees to $3.2 billion. In September, TeraWulf announced it had secured $3 billion to develop data centers.

Approximately $193 million in AI computing was invested by IREN. CleanSpark announced its transition from «pure mining» to high-performance computing. According to reports, MARA Holdings is exploring entry into the AI infrastructure market through a $168 million deal. Together with Cango, these three firms form a unique «club of 50 EH/s,» collectively controlling around 20% of the Bitcoin network’s capacity.

In August, experts at GoMining forecasted an influx of institutional investments in Bitcoin mining due to the boom in AI computing.